Building momentum
Mawire has The Woodlands Christian on track for a TAPPS Class 3A championship
The postseason is fast approaching for Dawson Libonati and Woodlands Christian. The Warriors boys basketball players took a 7-1 TAPPS 6-3A record into the final week of the regular season.
The postseason is fast approaching, and Woodlands Christian is busy making its final preparations.
The Warriors boys basketball players took a 7-1 TAPPS 6-3A record into the final week of the regular season, putting them in position to secure a top seed and take momentum into the playoffs. They wrap the regular season Friday against Faith West.
“I’m really happy, so far, with how we’ve played all district,” coach Stephen Mawire said. “We are getting to the point where we’re starting to peak, which is really good heading into the playoffs.”
The Warriors used their own holiday tournament in early January as a stepping stone into district.
They went 3-1, falling to Beaumont Legacy in the tourney championship.
“That was a really good turning point for us,” Mawire said.
“We were able to get a little bit of a winning streak going, and played a really tough game against Beaumont. I wish we could have that one backa little bit. We ended up losing by 10, but it was a really good game for us.”
Woodlands Christian opened district with another three-game winning streak. It erupted for 77 points in the opener, a 77-17 win over Bryan St. Joseph, with several players chipping in.
“We’ve been pretty good this year at putting up more points than we usually have,” Mawire said. “We have more people who can score than we’ve had in the last couple years, so it’s been good to see up put more offense on the board.”
The Warriors fell 73-50 at St. Thomas Episcopal in their first meeting.
They were leading at halftime, but the game got away from them in the fourth quarter, when St. Thomas heated up.
“We were winning with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, by three points,” Mawire said. “So we let them get really hot, and then we didn’t handle it very well when they finally caught fire.”
The Warriors bounced back later that week, beating Faith West 48-39.
“The kids knew how important it was for us not to lose both of those games, and how huge that one was for us to keep fighting and have a chance to win district,” Mawire said. “It was more of a defensiveoriented game. It wasn’t a high-scoring game.
“The kids played really good, lock-down defense most of the game, and chal- lenged them a whole lot.”
Mawire was happy to see it. The Warriors didn’t have much experience going in, but they’ve grown under the leadership of two key returners – senior point guard Azarias Tocabens and junior shooting guard Liam Mansfield.
Azarias is averaging 17 points, 7.0 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game.
Mansfield averages 16.4 ppg on 39-percent shooting from 3, 3.0 apg and 3.0 spg as their go-to player for big shots. Mansfield’s also taken off defensively in his third year with Mawire.
“The last couple games I’ve put him on their better (players), and he’s really embraced that challenge of knowing how important it is for him to be a two-sided player, and not one-dimensional when it comes to a shooter or scorer,” Mawire said. “He’s really embraced, this year, trying to become our best on-ball defender.”
Sophomore G/F Dawson Libonati is continuing to play brilliantly, averaging 16.4 ppg and 10.8 rpg with a full line, and sophomores Danyon Decker and Zach Baker elevated their play in district.
“They’re making us that much tougher to beat,” Mawire said.
Woodlands Christian entered its rematch with St. Thomas looking for at least a share of the district championship.
But what really matters is where the team is heading into the postseason.
“We want to finish in one of the spots that gets us a home-court playoff game … and then after that, our biggest focus has been a lot on, not necessarily worrying about who we’re playing or winning, but wanting to be the best team we can be,” Mawire said.
“We believe if we’re the best team we can be, then the result will take care of itself.”